


The Dance and the Demons, Part 4: The Scholar

by Zdenka



Series: The Dance and the Demons (Purimgifts 2021) [4]
Category: 12 Dancing Princesses (Fairy Tale)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Jewish, Collection: Purimgifts Extras, Demons, Gen, Scholar/Eldest Princess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 03:01:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29753064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zdenka/pseuds/Zdenka
Summary: The scholar follows the princesses into the kingdom of the demons.
Series: The Dance and the Demons (Purimgifts 2021) [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2187579
Comments: 5
Kudos: 10
Collections: Purimgifts 2021





	The Dance and the Demons, Part 4: The Scholar

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lea_hazel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lea_hazel/gifts).



> And the story concludes here! Thank you all for your kind comments and for your patience.

The scholar was led to the princesses’ room, to spend the night there and watch for the cause of the strange events. There was a chair placed for him near the door. The princesses glanced at him and whispered to each other, but they did not try to speak to him, and the scholar also did not address them. He said the evening prayers and then sat in the chair, still wrapped in his prayer-shawl. After a while, the princesses put out the candles and lay down in their beds. The scholar closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, though he made sure the magic ring was within easy reach in his pocket.

Around midnight, the scholar found himself becoming so very sleepy that he was hard put to keep the pretended sleep from becoming real. He touched the fringes of his prayer-shawl and quietly recited the Shema, and the unnatural drowsiness passed.

Not long after, he heard rustling from the princesses’ side of the room, and he saw the light of a candle through his closed eyelids. He listened carefully as the princesses spoke to each other in whispers. At first it was only requests to help one sister with her hairpins or another fasten her gown. But at last he heard the eldest princess say quietly, “Are all of us ready?”

The youngest princess said unhappily, “I wish we need not go.” The eldest princess did not answer.

The scholar opened his eyes a crack, and he saw the princesses disappearing one by one as if they were sinking into the floor. He quickly put on the ring and hurried after them. He found the staircase that opened in the floor and followed the princesses down. But in his hurry, he accidentally stepped on the train of the youngest princess’s dress.

“Oh!” the youngest princess exclaimed. “Someone has stepped on my gown!”

The eldest princess came back to her and ran her fingers lightly over the step. “It is nothing,” she said, “your gown was only caught on a nail. Let us go.”

The scholar continued to follow them, through the groves of silver and gold and diamonds. At the shore of the lake, he stepped into the last boat as gently as he could, but the boat still rocked a little on the water. The youngest princess turned around anxiously. “It seemed to me that there was someone in the boat with us.”

“I see no one,” the eldest princess said. She turned to the demon prince beside her and asked, “Do you see anything?”

The demon prince laughed. “Who could follow us here to the demon kingdom, or keep himself hidden from our eyes? There is no one.” The eldest princess looked thoughtful but said nothing.

The scholar followed the princesses and their demon companions to the brightly lit hall. There each of the princes asked the princess he escorted, “Will you be my bride and remain here?”

The eldest princess said defiantly, “I will not.” And all her sisters said the same.

The scholar said to himself, “God forbid that a daughter of Israel be forced to marry a demon.” And he resolved even more strongly that he would find a way to free them. He watched as the princesses were made to dance with the demons until dawn, and then followed them back. This time he stepped into the boat of the eldest princess. Her sleeve brushed against his arm once and he held his breath, but to his relief, she gave no sign of noticing.

In the morning, the king demanded whether he had learned anything.

“I am not certain yet,” said the scholar. “Let me watch for another night.”

The king frowned, but the queen said, “My lord, let him try. What harm will it do?” And so the scholar spent another night watching in the princesses’ room.

The second night, everything happened as before. This time, when the scholar went through the groves of silver and gold and diamond, he broke a small branch from each kind of tree and hid it under his coat.

The branch made a cracking sound as he broke it, and the youngest princess started. “Did you not hear something?”

But the eldest princess said each time, “No, it was nothing.”

When the dance ended, the scholar returned to his chair and pretended to be asleep. In the morning, when he heard the princesses stirring, he opened his eyes. The eldest princess was looking at him.

“Tell me,” she asked, “have you discovered anything?” The other princesses also sat up to listen.

The scholar told what he had seen, and he showed the golden branch, the silver branch, and the diamond branch as proof.

The princesses all caught their breath, and the youngest princess said, “You have broken the curse upon our tongues! All this time, we have not been able to tell anyone what was happening.”

The eldest princess said, “I knew there was someone following us. But I thought that if the demons were unaware of it, it could only be someone who wanted to help us.”

“I do want to help,” the scholar said at once, “and I believe I know how to drive away the demons, if you and your sisters will help me.”

“Do not fear our readiness,” said the eldest princess with determination. “Only tell us what we must do to be freed from the demons.” The scholar admired her resolute air, and he told the princesses what they must do.

Soon the king’s guards came to summon the scholar again, and again the king demanded what he had learned. The scholar said, “I will tell you, but first let me watch for one more night.” The queen begged the king to agree, and the king granted his request.

During the day, the scholar went to the market to buy what he needed to defeat the demons. With the help of the queen, he was able to meet with the princesses for a few hours and teach them what must be done. Fortunately, the princesses were skilled in music, and they all sang or played musical instruments. They were able to learn quickly.

That night, the scholar put on the magic ring and followed the princesses down into the demons’ kingdom as before. They let the demon princes lead them until they reached the hall of dancing. The demon beside the eldest princess asked her again, “Will you be my bride and remain in this kingdom?” But instead of answering, the princess pulled out a shofar from her trailing sleeves and blew a loud blast on it. The demon recoiled, clapping his hands over his ears.

All the princesses and the scholar each took a shofar and blew loud ringing blasts, one after another, as if it were the end of Yom Kippur. The demons scattered everywhere, wailing in fear, and they called upon Lilith, Naamah, Agrat, and Machalat, the four mothers of demons, to save them.

The scholar recited one of the psalms which is said to be especially effective against demons. When he said, “The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night,” the hall began to shake. He reached the last lines: “The Lord will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore.” There was a great shaking and rumbling, and everything went dark. A moment later, the scholar and all the princesses were standing back in the princesses’ room. The princesses laughed and wept for joy, and the eldest princess clasped the scholar’s hands in gratitude.

In the morning, the scholar came before the king and queen. This time the princesses also accompanied him. The scholar and the princesses related all that had happened.

The king and queen were overjoyed. The king said, “I will not break my word. Which of my daughters do you wish to marry?”

The scholar involuntarily glanced toward the eldest princess. But he remembered seeing her stand unwillingly beside the demon prince, who unrelentingly asked her to marry him no matter how many times she refused him. He said, “If I were to choose, my heart inclines most toward your eldest daughter. But I only wish to marry her if she is willing.”

The eldest princess looked at her mother. The queen said, “For my part, I approve. Say, my daughter, do you wish to marry him?”

The eldest princess looked at the scholar for a long moment. He lowered his eyes and blushed. Then she said, “Yes, I am willing.”

The scholar and the eldest daughter were betrothed, and a year later they were married. I cannot say they lived happily ever after; they had times of both joy and sorrow, like all other people. But they were happy and dealt with their troubles together, and the demons never returned to disturb them again.

**Author's Note:**

> From the Talmud: "And Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Anyone who recites Shema upon his bed, demons stay away from him." (Berakhot 5a)
> 
> The quoted psalm is Psalm 121 (I lift my eyes to the mountains). According to one of my sources, this is one of the three psalms which is most effective against demons (the others being Psalm 29 and Psalm 91). Please note that I have not tested this personally.
> 
> _Image Credit:_
> 
> Slightly edited from a photograph by [Keila Hötzel](https://unsplash.com/@keilahoetzel) at [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/).


End file.
